1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that can perform image forming processing, a related image forming method, a related program, an information processing apparatus that can produce print job data processible by the image forming apparatus, a related information processing method, and a related program.
2. Description of the Related Art
The business flow of conventional print industries includes fundamental phases of receiving an order from a customer (or a client), producing print products (e.g., magazines, newspapers, catalogs, advertisement prints, gravures, etc.) according to the order, and delivering the finished products to the customer (or client). Many of conventional printing companies are still using large scale printing devices, such as offset type printing machines. The printing work according to a conventional printing method includes various processes, such as document reception, design, layout, composition (presentation based on a printer output), correction (layout correction or color correction), proof (proof print), block copy preparation, printing, post-processing treatment, and delivery. The offset type printing machine requires, as a mandatory step, preparing a block copy. When a block copy is finished, correcting the block copy is not easy. Complicated correction, if performed at a later time, increases the total manufacturing cost. Accordingly, the printing work according to the conventional printing method requires careful corrections, including check of the layout and confirmation of colors.
In this manner, the conventional printing method requires a large scale device and sufficient lead time to finish the print works as requested by the customer or client. Furthermore, these works require specialized knowledge or know-how.
On the other hand, electro-photographic printing devices and inkjet printing devices can provide high speed and high quality outputs. To develop a new market for digital print based on electronic data, a new business model, so called “Print On Demand (referred to POD)”, has recently appeared as handling a relatively smaller lot of jobs and finishing the job in a short period of time without using a large scale device or system, for example, by fully utilizing a digital image forming apparatus, such as a digital copy machine or a digital multi function peripheral.
In such a POD market, computer-based management and controls are the keys to promote the digitization in various printing processes and catch up the conventional print industries. For example, PFP (Print For Pay) and CRD (Centralized Reproduction Department) are included in the POD market. The PFP is the print service directed to a copy/print shop or print company. The CRD is the print service directed to an in-house section of a company.
The print services and commodities have the capability of covering the entire field of the business including reception of an order, packing, delivery, after-service, inventory management, and payment management.
Furthermore, the capability of collecting production related data, processing the collected data, and reporting the analysis will provide an efficient supporting system for corporate planning and management. Furthermore, a system capable of storing the information and timely providing the information to an appropriate section will be required in the future.
It is generally difficult to keep skilled workers in the POD market, compared with the conventional print industries. However, satisfying various requirements, such as accomplishing a print job at a low cost, starting the business with a small investment, and reducing the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), is the goal of this new market.
As described above, the POD market can speedily provide print products in response to various types of print orders. For example, a requested order may designate the use of plural sheets (sheet types) for not only plural jobs but also a single job. If the number of sheet types required in a job exceeds a total number of paper feeding sections (i.e., paper cassettes) of a printing device, an operator must re-arrange the sheets (sheet types) in the printing device in response to every occurrence of a sheet exchange request error.
Considering the inconvenience in a complicated job, the operator of the printing device can prepare plural spare sheet cassettes storing the rest of required sheets (sheet types) in addition to the built-in cassettes originally equipped in the printing device. However, this method is not so effective in that the operator of the printing device must frequently exchange the cassettes every time a sheet exchange request error occurs.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-108596 proposes a technique capable of reducing the work load in such cassette exchange operations, according to which the cassettes of plural sheet types are set and exchanged according to a predetermined priority order. However, according to the method proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-108596, the print order is frequently changed because the print order is dependent on priority.
For example, even if a customer requests the print processing performed in the order of sheet A→sheet B→sheet C, the actual print processing will be differently performed (e.g., in the order of sheet C→sheet B→sheet A) unless the customer's request matches the sheet priority. In such a case, the operator must additionally work to correct the page order of the printed product as requested. This will deteriorate the operability of the operator.
Furthermore, in the case of receiving many print requests at the same time, it is desirable to set a schedule for processing print jobs considering their delivery data or device performances before starting the print processing. However according to the method proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-108596, such scheduling cannot be realized because the final print processing order is substantially determined according to the sheet priority.